The fact that very successful people wont call you out. Im very proud that those young athletes, with their mull pi in it will dollar athletes stood up. I used to do a sermon, some of those young men and young ladies stood up on this showed their soul wouldnt be compromised for a contract. Thanks for watching. Im al sharpton. Hardball starts right now. Hi ho silver. Lets play hardball. Good evening. Im Chris Matthews up in new york. Is this something thats bigger
thannen basketball . Bigger even than sports . Is this a National Setting oof a higher bar for public and private behavior on matters dealing with race . Is this decision to shun steriling from the nations professional league mark a hiking up of standards, private and public both . Are we now in an environment where hate speech, even in the most personal kind and setting is a matter for severe punishment . Tonight, we look at the thought of what may go down as an historic condemnation. The verdict from the nba is that donald sterile canning no longer own a team. Can no longer even attend nba games. Isiah thomas is an nba legend. Hes a halloffamer, a former coach, part owner, and team executive. He also served as president of the Nba Players Association. And jamel hill is a columnist with espn and cohost of numbers never lie. Late today adam silver announced the authenticity of those
recordings that set off this firesto firestorm. The nba was fining sterling the maximum amount of 2. 5 million. That was just the beginninbegin. Heres the commissioner. Effective immediately, i a am banning mr. Sterling for life mr. Sterling may not attend any nba games or practices. He may not be present at any clippers facility he may not be involved in any player or personnel decisions involving the team. He will also be barred from attending nba board of governors meetings or participating in any other league activity. We stand together in condemning mr. Sterlings views. They simply have no place in the nba. Wow. Well, commissioner silver also announced he would be pressing for a vote by the leagues ow r owners to force steriling to sell the team, sell the clipper meps also made it clear the verdict was not based on sterli sterlings past actions. In other words, the audio recordings are the only evidence the league needed. Heres a key portion of those tapes, originally obtained by tmz. People call you and tell you that i have black people on my instagram and it bothers you. Yeah, it bothers me a lot. If you want to broadcast that youre associating with black people. How about your whole life every day, you can you could do whatever you want, sleep with them, bring them in, do whatever you want. The little i ask you is not to promote it and not to bring them to my games. Wow. Thanks for coming on. Youve had a lot of of experience with this league. Does this stun you . For life, its almost something out of the bible. For life. When you look at the words and the language that was had in a private setting but came out publicly, and you look at the sport of the nba, this is a league that has fought racism and racialization since its existence. And this is a place that embraces diversity. We speak to all races, classes, creeds and gender. And this is a place where the commissioner took a leadership position today, adam silver did something today that not only stands in the arena of sports, but also goes outside of the arena. Because the values that we try to exude and exhibit in sport mirrors the ones we want in society. Sports is the backdrop for society in terms of values. Sport is a way that we transfort our game culturally, intellectually, across the world. So this is a big moment for us. This is a defining moment for us. Not only for the nba, but also
for society as large. If we can take advantage and have the and have an open dialogue. Do you agree with that . Were talking here about a new its hard to codify this in words, what words are in, what words are out. We know some that are out. But this is more about a private conversation, which has become exposed because of a tape recording. And its really about a point of view exposed in words rather than a particularly bad vocabulary. I mean, he just said he thought he didnt want his girlfriend showing up with black guys. That was his statement. Clearly stated. Its his position. And the nba commissioner said, saying that is unacceptable. So what does that say about the league . Sports . America . I think for so long that sports, we often saw players held to a certain standard. In the work force, if you will. Its the same in the nfl. Roger goodell has a situation on his hands with jim err say. Now youre saying the power structure be held accountable. I think thats what made this much more unique than what weve seen in the past. Now, i know a lot of people, and mark cuban even brought this up himself, talking about, is this a slippery slope because you are punishing somebody for something they said in private . Well, i think there are numerous examples in Todays Society that everybody is a reporter. You know, you cant just go out to dinner, you have people with their own individual smart phones. You have people taping conversations. So i think its just if anything, its another lesson about whether or not you should be careful. I on the other hand am okay with how this all came to light. And in a weird way, its poetic justice. Because here is a man who had been known for his seedy and sha shady and unscrupulous business
pr practices and lo ben a and behold he was done in. Mark cuban is sticking up for sterling when it comes to his ownership of the team, warning that forcing sterling to sell the team could lead to a what mark cuban calls a slippery slope. Heres kau been a specuban spea reporters yesterday its a very, very, very slippery slope. If its about racism and were ready to kick people out of the league. Okay. Then what about homophobia. What about somebody who doesnt like a particular religion. What about somebody whos antisemitic. In this country, people are allowed to be morons. Its a slippery slope when you start trying to remove people from the nba or any organization based off of their private thoughts they have at home. Thats damn scary. What do you make about that . People are allowed tor m eed to . Well, yes, but theres also a sanctity of the game and the sport. In this case, when youre talking about racism and racialization in this country and in the history of this country and an africanamerican league thats predominantly 80 to 85 of the players. Words carry weight and words have tradition, particularly in this country. And we have to be kargful and we have to be sympathetic to the words than being used and the way theyre being used in this setting. And they do transfer outside of the sporting arena. Well, lets get into how this is going to, like, get out there. Manifest itself beyond this one decision. Like a court decision. Its going to become a precedent. I remember when we had the marge schott case in cincinnati. And she said her stuff. And her lawyer, smart guy, i know him, bob bennett from washington said okay, you want to play this game, owners, every one of you owners i want to
depose you, put you under oath, and ask you if you ever used words like this ever and youre going to be under oath for this. A smart lawyer would say okay, suppose this guys lawyer, sterlings lawyer says fell lo eowners, i want depositions publicly taken. I want you to say youve never said anything about other groups. This gets pretty terrifyinging to some people, i would say. It really does. But for the 30 owners and the 400plus players in our league, you know, we have a sanctity and a moral code that we try to live by protecting the sport. We try to have in sport a level playing field. Sport is the place where you come in society and you say theres a level playing field. This is a place where black,
white, you know its merit based. The one area in which i think is totally merit based. You have to be careful here. This is fascinating the way isiah thomas has talked about this. With amazing talent, not just athleticism, the shooting ability, ive grown up, all the sports, one sport has changed dramatically in my lifetime and thats basketball. Its so much better. The players are so much more able to hit the threepointers with amazing swishes, relentless. Steph curry. The talent on display, the eyehand coordination, whatever you want to call it, this dynamic in sports. The question is the fans have accepted that. Theyve accepted merit based. How are the fan goings to react to this . Do you think theyll say this guy got what he deserved . Well, let me just quickly address something that chris just kind of put a hopefully up on the last conversation. I whauunderstand what you mean t free speech enthusiasts thinking that right is infringed upon. Even though the commissioner said he didnt take Donald Sterlings past behavior into account, you cant possibly think that he didnt think about it at all. I think thats a major piece to this. Because if this if Donald Sterlings comments on their own, if we just had the audio and lets say that up until now he had a clean track record and we didnt know about anything else, ei think he would have been dealt with differently. Thats not what the commissioner said. I teeming you, im watching that commissioner, im thinking the guy is thinking legalese, hes thinking i better say its based just on this incident. There must have been some reason he said just this incident . Well, yes, and probably legally thats probably what he needed to say. But chris, you and i, i mean, we boat have a bit more common sense than that. You mean to tell me hes not going to take into account the fact that this man has been sued multd pl times and settled those
lawsuits for sexual harassment, for racial discrimination. That would indicate that he not only thinks these things, he puts them into practice. And thats the true definition of racism. Which is why i would not put this in a category of simplifying it the way that mark cuban did. Mark cuban is trying to treat him like a firsttime offender. Im sorry, i consider Donald Sterling a career racist. Because thats what his track record certainly indicates. And i think its more than fine. Maybe not from adam silver from a legal perspective, but for me as a basketball fan, its okay for me to look at him from that perspective. Now, you asked about the fans, i think now that the commissioner has essentially put given the Death Penalty to this particular owner, they probably feel a lot better about rooting for the clippers, a lot better about tonights game and a lot better about rooting for the clipper, therefore, to pursue winning a title, which is what this all was about to begin with. But i cant say im sorry it
came out at this particular time. I wonder would we have had the same reaction if this were occurring in january. Your expertise is on display here, jamel. What are the percentage chances of the the clippers winning the title this year . Well, i still say miami is the favorite. But if you asked anybody after the last game how lifeless and emotionless they looked, i think we all would have given them a 0 chance. But theyve been a pretty good team all season. They set a franchise record for wins and this hasnt been an historically below average sub par franchise. So i would say that right now, with this new lease on life, feeling probably a lot of relief that the situation is resolved, i think that i would deaf anily put them in that bracket of top three or four teams that have a chance to get to the feenls. So theyve got a shot anyways. Thank you. Honor to meet you sir, isiah
thomas. Coming up, millionaire, well, theyre not slaves but they are millionaires. Thats how William Rhoden reviews many of the americas top africanamerican athletes. Wealthy but not free. This is going to be an interesting discussion. Its coming up after this commercial. Also, president obama takes on the Armchair Generals out there. Dont you love them . Why are those on the right so eager to engage militarily . Even after afghanistan and the tragedy of iraq . I think thats a good question. The president has answered it. And speaking of the right, the hawks are after john kerry now over a word he used to describe israels longterm choices if it cant reach a twostate solution. Their real goal to to not reach any kind of peace treaty with the palestinians. Its the Little Things in life that make me smile. Spending the day with my niece. I dont use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. Before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. Even wellfitting dentures let in food particles. Super poligrip is zinc free. With just a few dabs, its clinically proven to seal out more food particles so youre more comfortable and confident while you eat. So its not about keeping my dentures in, its about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. [ banker ] sydney needed some Financial Guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. So we talked about her options. Her valuable assets were staying. And selling her car wouldnt fly. We helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today. And tomorrow. So lets see what we can do about that. Remodel. Motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. They take a banker. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Because when people talk, great things happen. A federal judge in wisconsin struck down the voter id laws. Republicans who supported the law said it would cut down on voter fraud, but the judge agreed with the laws proponents who said it disproportionately hurts poor and minority voters who tend to vote democrat. Well, Governor Scott walker believes the law is constitutional and wisconsins attorney general says the state will appeal the judges decision. Hardball back after this. Tall the building is, or how ornate the halls are. It doesnt matter if there are granite statues, or big mahogany desks. When working with an investment firm,
whats really important is whether the people behind the desks actually stand behind what they say. Introducing the schwab accountability guarantee. If youre not happy with one of our participating Investment Advisory services, well refund your program fee from the previous quarter. Its no guarantee against loss and other fees and expenses may still apply. Chuck vo standing by your word, thats what matters the most. Welcocome back to hardball. This morning, Oprah Winfrey weighed in on sterling saying he has a, quote, plantation mentality. I know youve been following this story. Of course i have been
following this story. It feels like a plantation mentality in 2014. It just doesnt fit. Well, nate silver is 538 blog and found that 76 players are africanamerican. 43 of coaches are africanamerican. But when it comes to ownership, just 2 of owners are black while 988 are white. In other words, Michael Jordan owns the charlotte bobcats, thats it. In his book, 40 Million Dollar slave William Holden who is right here argues that while africanamericans may have achieved wealth from the industry, they havent gained or exercised real power within it. With us now is him, the author of the book, the New York Times sports columnist, William Rhoden. And also a real expert for history, the history of the civil rights movement, former u. S. Congressman for mz mz who is also a former president of the naacp. Lets start with william here. We all think about nba players as being well off. Theyve got a tenyear career, they may end up saving 50 million with all the endorsement opportunities. Its not just the payroll. Its the endorsements. How are they badly off . I dont think theyre badly off. Theyre making money. But if somebody could pay 15 players 10 million each, how much is he making . You know . Well, you know, too, they get a percentage at the gate with a cap its always about half the money come into the door goes to the players. The point is, they are well off relatively speaking, but this is an issue of power. I mean, you could be paid money. A lot of enslaved people actually made money, but they had no power. And they didnt share the revenue. It would be different if, like, they said okay, you could get 50 of the cotton sales. It still wouldnt the barberism is one thing. At least you could say well, we split it 5050. But in this case, in is so, like, white labor i mean black labor, white wealth. So thats the premise of the didnt it used to be, before the Big Development of black athletes ability to dominate the nba, you had white athletes making a lot less. Everybody was making less. They didnt own the teams. Everybody was making less. And the point is, all of them on the plantation, whether youre talking about hockey, Major League Baseball, the nba. Theyre all on a plantation. Probably a lot of white guys dont know theyre on a plantation. But i think that one thing thats germane here is that i mean, you know, i was at the press conference. And, you know, they kind of brought sterling out and stoned him. Yeah, the wicked witch is dead. If you go through the franchi franchises, there arent many back people at all. Youre a majority where they need you congressman, do you accept this premise that we have a labor force of super talented professionals who make the money, make the fans come to the games and watch on tv, and the guy ws who make money off of th . Isnt that the nay kmur of capitalism . Just to be blunt about it. It is. But the nature of capitalism only moves great opportunities when there are fres surpressure applied. I agree with bill and oprah also. We cant just focus on this one incident. When you look at the other 29 teams and what theyre not doing when it comes to corporate officers, when it comes to Vice President s, when it comes to marketing, communications, its a shame. Its almost like what major newspapers are doing in this count country. You get the sense that they care about opportunities until you
walk into the news room and you begin to wonder whats going on here. So theres a disconnect. This issue has given people the opportunity, i think, if were serious, to really look at what is not going on and not just focus on Donald Sterling. Im playing devils advocate. So heres your guy, heres your exhibit a, donald steriling. Here he is defending what he thinks is his kind treatment of africanamerican players who his former girlfriend. Not at the time former, but certainly former now, on the tape released by that dead spin over the weekend. Lets take a look at how what he describes what sounds like a plantation. Do i know . I support them and give them food and clothes and cars and houses. Who gives it to them . Does someone else give it to them . Do i i know that i have who makes the game . Do i make the game or do they make the game . He just comes out and makes your point for him. And thats exactly somebody who says well, on the plantation, they didnt like the enslaved people, well, no, in fact, many of them didnt like, you know, like you like children. It was a paternalism. And its the same thing here. And thats a great point, a lot of people would just love to leave it here, the wicked witch is dead, racism is over, will lets move on. Oh, no, no, no lets follow the truth where it leads. You go to a major league you go to a major league press box particularly during the baseball season. You think youre in 1955. So its one thing to focus on sterling, but its much larger than this, much deeper than this. People who want to be briwris and others want to play ball. Your hero and it ought to be my hero is thaddeus stephens. Where slavery ended, there was a
guy from pennsylvania, a congressman, a white guy, his mistress was black, he had a black girlfriend. You know what he wanted to do, dont just free the people, give them 40 acres and a mule. Give them capital. And were really talking about capital here and the lack of it being devoted towards the development of a real enterprise by black americans. And were talking about opportunities. Youve got to provide opportunities. Otherwise, it calls into questions behaviors like this. There are a lot of Donald Sterlings out there in this society. He just happened to trip up and get caught. But there are others that think that way. This is not a post racial society. Racism is alive and well. Lets talk positively well. Michael jordan owns the bobcats. How do you get more black owners . The issue isnt really how you get more black owners in my opinion. How do we get the other 29 team troosd what they ought to do to create opportunities for hundreds and hundreds of qualified latinos and africanamericans and others. White collar jobs in the
offices . Yeah. But lets go with your point. Listen, we said that everybody is on the plantation. The problem is not just getting black ownership, but getting enlightened black ownership. A black guy can turn into a plantation, too. Lets be positive. Who do you like . Jordan who is doing this . Magic johnson has enterprises all over har hem. Around the country i should say. Magic is great, jordan is great. Lou foster was great. He started Negro National league back in 1920. What he said, he wanted to avoid this whole mess. He said you know what . Weve got tons of black baseball players. Weve got black banks. Lets start our own league. So we dont have to have this nonsense. He did it for 20 year, but finally white Major League Baseball said oh, no, no, no, no. Were not going to have that nonsense. Certainly people thought he would be better integrated. If we could just get a black guy on the Supreme Court to replace thurgood marshall. So you need enlightened africanamerican leadership not just anybody. Michael jordan is great and i love what hes done. But i think he would tell you also the problem is bigger than just who will own a team. Lets talk about plaiters. We saw they had muscle. They turned their jerseys inside out, right . They stood up with black power. What do you want the players to do before they quit tonight . This should be the first of all, they should stop using the nword in the locker room. You cant have it both ways. You cant say Donald Sterling, you just respect each other every day. Thats got to stop, number one. Or else this really means, if you continue to disrespect yourself and call each other the n word, then youre just as bad
as Donald Sterling. So stop it. The second thing is basically, this should be the beginning of a movement to make the Nba Players Association strong. Because overnight, youve got you will be the most powerful organization overnight. You have all these young, rich africanamerican men who can come together and actually have some muscle. If it takes you know, it always takes Something Like to to make people react. Lets be proactive. You know, lets be proactive. I think the team had a big run with this when the clippers took the jerseys and reversed them. I think that got things on the ground there. The nword, im a white guy. I cant talk about the locker room or the towel snapping that goes on. But the use of that word does play into this. It ought to stop. It really ought to stop. Thank you, wayne rhoden. Powerful voice here on hardball. Kwasi infumi. The Chicken Hawks out there love the idea of war for somebody else. But first, Stephen Colbert on one thing the president forgot to do on his trip to asia. This is hardball. Aflac. Aflac, aflac, aflac [ both sigh ] ugh you told me he was good, dude. Yeah he stinks at golf. But he was great at getting my claim paid fast. How fast . Mine got paid in 4 days. Wow. Thats awesome. Is that legal . Big fat no. [ male announcer ] find out how fast aflac can pay you at aflac. Com. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. She can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. My mom works at ge. My mom works at ge. Hey there can i help you . Shhhhhh whispering sorry hi, uh we need a new family plan. How about 10 gigs of data to share and unlimited talk and text. Oh ten gigs sounds pretty good. Yeah really good. And for a family of four, its 160 a month breaks whisper what get outta here whispering im sorry are we still doing the whisper thing . Or . O sorry yes yes well take it. Introducing our bestever family pricing. For instance, a family of four gets 10 gigs of data, with unlimited talk text, for 160 dollars a month. Only from at t. In japanese culture, a deep bow is very often seen as a sign of apology or contrition. The greater the apology, the greater amount you know, the japanese invade pearl harbor, you bow. Oh. It goes back even further than that, tucker. Obama spent years on the very same island as pearl harbor groveling to japan on his hands and knees. Welcome back to hartford ball. Everybody is a critic when it comes to president obama and his recent trip to asia. Right wing media hound matt bruj was quick to jump on the president for bowing to a robot with this headline. But that bow wasnt the president s only faux pas acc d according to colbert. Sew with all this bungling, its no surprise that the president left japan without the trade agreement. And without the heldly kitty
backpack he promised joe biden. Finally, we hold you about an ad running in ohio by the candidate looking to take John Boehners seat. Sometimes when a politician has been in d. C. Too long, it goes to his head. And he just cant seem to get the job done. Used on a daily basis, interegg in congress would help you every time the moment is right. The ad was meant to be humorous, one group didnt find it funny. Cedarville university, a Christian College where winteregg has been an adjunct professor for three years. Has told the candidate his contract will not be renewed. He told the washington post, quote, they said because of the ad my relationship with them will be done. Its over. The ad obviously touched a nerve. Ups is a global company, but most of our employees live in the same communities that we serve. People here know that our operations have an impact locally. Were using more natural gas vehicles than ever before. The trucks are reliable, thats good for business. But they also reduce emissions, and thats good for everyone. It makes me feel very good about the future of our company. And thats epic, bro, weve forgotten just how good good is. Good is setting a personal best before going for a world record. Good is swinging to get on base before swinging for a home run. [ crowd cheering ] good is choosing not to overshoot the moon, but to land right on it and do some experiments. So start your day off good with a coffee thats good cup after cup. Maxwell house. Good to the last drop maxwell house. Ben well, that was close you aint lying let quicken loans help you save your money. With a mortgage thats engineered to amaze as the company thats all about printing. But did you know we also support hospitals using Electronic Health records for more than 30 million patients . Or that our Software Helps over 20 million smartphone users remotely configure email every month . Or how about processing nearly 5 billion in electronic toll payments a year . In fact, todays xerox is working in surprising ways to help companies simplify the way work gets done
and life gets lived. With xerox, youre ready for real business. Severe weather warnings are in affect in parts of the south. A gunman wounded six people in georgia before turning the gun on himself. Authorities say the shooter was an employee at that location. And malaysias transport minister says possible wreckage has been found in the bay of bengal and a potential lead will be investigated. Back to hardball. President obama delivered an unusually strong rebuke yesterday to his critics who say he hasnt been tough enough on Foreign Policy. Frankly, most of the foreign
policy commentators that have questioned our policies would go headlong into a bunch of military adventures that the American People have no interest in participating in and would not advance our core security interests. For some reason, many who were proponents of what i considered to be a disastrous decision to go into iraq havent really learned the lesson of the last deca decade. They seem to play the same note over and over again. Whether on iran, syria or ukraine, critics of the president have accused him of not being tough enough. Dealing with foreign adversaries. Hes being naive or weak or indecisive. What would they have done differently . What would they do tomorrow differently when it comes to dealing with foreign crises. The answer frequently involves banging the war drums. I worry when we begin to address by first taking options off the table. We could go back and reinstate the Ballistic MissileDefense Program that was taken out. The president said we would, quote, consider other options. The president said were going to provide military assistance to ukraine and that will be in defensive weaponry. You could make life advise rabble for putin in a lot of baps he needs to be humiliated and weakened at home. He very much cares about democracy on his borders. He would gut our arsenal while he allows others, enemies, to enrich theirs . Man, thats just like a liberal on gun control. Mr. President , the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a guy with a nuke. John ross , michael steele, what do you make of the charge that the president is not tough enough . Do you agree with that . I agree theres some truth to what the president has done and how hes approached the policy decisions even involving the late latest kerfuffle on israel. Particularly with respect to crimea and ukraine, you know what is the strategy . How come were waiting so long to bring in the heavy handle of economic sanctions here that could really cause putin some
pain . The russian stock market yesterday went up, not down. There are some things thavr been taken off the table that maybe should be put back on that dont involve the military but will bring some pressure. Ill get back to you, michael. It seems to me the big different between republican and democratic Foreign Policy, the big difference is w. Took us into an iraq war. And this guy we have now, who i support on so manyish issues president obama is trying to negotiate a way to go to war with iran. The republicans are still proud of their damn iraq policy and seem to have a problem trying to negotiate their way out of a war with iran. So on the big broad strokes, one party is hawkish and one party is dovish to me that is the issue. I think dovish still looks a lot better than hawkish. This president is speaking for the American People. I think what he doesnt get nearly enough credit for what he did on iran. And i think thats the model. You know, michael, to my knowledge, he hasnt taken
anything off the table. Yes, they are moving slowly on sanctions. Theyre trying to bring along an international coalition. And thats what worked on iran. I havent things taken off the table. I heard talk of how do we bring along our allies . How do we make things tougher. Yes, we dont go immediately economic sanctions. Thats tough on the russian people and not where our allies are right now. If these sanctions that they imposed yesterday dont do something, then theyll go to tougher sanctions. The president said that. Nothing is off the table. Do you support this general approach on the right of issues like well, will et lets arm the libyan rebels. Lets arm the syrian rebels. Lets arm ukraine. The constant effort to support military action by people we take sides with, even if were not sure theyre the good guys. That seems to be the instinct of mccain and other people in the party. I just see it all the time. Chris, i agree with you on that. I dont think thats necessarily the approach you approach headlong into here. I think there are other ways and other aspects of military engagement through our Central Intelligence community, through our nsa community and other assets we can put on the ground to disrupt internally, to get information, and to bring to bear the appropriate levels of pressure that we seem to have forgotten how to do. Im not sitting here saying oh, lets go charging in, you know, blind to the military, blind to any other options, only military. But im just thinking the administration at this point seems to have moved in such a fashion that people are even doubting whether or not the options he is taking are going to be valid enough to actually get the job done. He couldnt get congress behind him for any kind of military action in syria. John mccain was incredibly reckless in his talks about the syrian rebels. He was calling them moderate and secular. We dont know who they are. He doesnt know who they are. And, you know, weve gotten 87 , 88 of the chemical weapon stockpile out of there, based on the same international movement. I think those are things to point to that are successes. But the story in syria is not over yet. No, its not. Number two, i agree with you that, you know, the whole point that john mccain was making about the rebels we dont know really makes my point. We dont know. So why arent we using the kind of assets on the ground so that we do know who were dealing with, what their motives are and what will actually move the Foreign Policy dial. My problem, and i think it was the president s, was its easy to be an armchair critic because no matter what you advocate, there are no consequences. However, if youre president , michael, what you do has consequences. So people like bill krystal can say he wants putin to be humiliat humiliated. What is this . Has he ever been in a schoolyard fight even . Rub his face in the asphalt. What do you mean humiliated . Give me a break. Were going to lose soldiers so somebody can humiliate somebody on the other ideological side. We know where the neocons are coming from. Michael, youre a great man. On this issue, youre nuanced in the wrong direction, but thats okay. John walsh, thank you, michael steele. The hawks on the right, you just heard after secretary of state john kerry for his comment actually was a word about israel. Were going to get to that word and what it means if anything in this context going down the road. This is hardball. [ dennis ] its always the same dilemma who gets the allstate safe driving bonus check. Rock beats scissors [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. And with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. Only from allstate. Call 8669068500 now. [ dennis ] zach really loves his new camera. Problem is. This isnt zach. Its a friend of a friend who was at zachs party and stole his camera. 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and new or worsening Heart Failure have occurred. Before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. Ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. Tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. You should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira today. Remission is possible. We are the thinkers. The job jugglers. The up allnighters. And the ones who turn ideas into action. Weve made our passions our lifes work. We strive for the moments where we can say, i did it we are entrepreneurs who started it all. With a signature. Legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. And were here to help start yours. Were back. The war hawks on the right wing will do anything to politicize israel and the peace process, we know that. And their recent attacks on john kerry is their way of opposing his efforts at peace between th his efforts at peace. Secretary kerry is being criticized for remarks he made friday in a closed door meeting which were recorded by josh rogan of the daily beast. A unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second class citizens or it winds up being a state that destroys the capacity of israel to be a jewish state. Jeremy ben ami is president of the pro israel group j street. Thank you very much. I want to get to the thing we could learn from. Not the gotcha about the word apartheid. If it wasnt for the use of the word apartheid and if we dont get a twostate solution in the near term or ever we end up with
israel facing a terrible choice thats been talked about 40, 50 years i have heard the conversation. You either end up having arab people live as are residents in your country but not citizens and therefore you dont have true democracy or you allow the arabs to vote and get a nonjewish state. I thought that was well known that terrible set of choices down the road. Your thoughts . Exactly. Thats the case that secretary of state kerry has been making for over a year. Hes poured heart and soul into an evident to try to resolve the Israeli Palestinian conflict, two states for two people so iz eel doesnt face the choice outlined. Whether or not he should have used the word isnt the issue. The Pro Israel Community should be thanking secretary of state kerry for his efforts trying to save israel as a jewish home and democracy rather than attack him for using a wrong word at the wrong time. To the politics of this which you understand. I will ask you, why are the critics on the right leading the attack. Why do people on the democratic side feel they have to join it . Because of the word apartheid. The word was unfortunate. Secretary kerry dialled it back and said he shouldnt have used it and wished he could unspool the tape. It was a reflection of frustration over not getting a deal that need tots be reached at some point for the reason ares you are saying. The situation in israel is unsustainable as it is going now. The republicans jumped on it because theres been a concerted effort from are the beginning of the president s first term to paint him as somehow weak on Foreign Policy, not muscular. In particular, not being fully supportive of israel which is toxic and a bad thing to call a president in washington, d. C. Let me go back to this thing about the word. We learned from jimmy carter, of course, that you use that word apartheid to your chagrin at
best. If he took it back which he has, whats left to attack him with . Are they concerned that if israel doesnt agree to the twostate solution some time, if its a state where you have an annexation of the west bank particularly and you have a lot of a rab residents who arent citizens it might be fair to use the word. Is that where hes in trouble . Is that what bothers people . Botherses people on the right. In iz eel people on the right want to take over control of the remaining land that the palestinians currently live on. Thats the right wing agenda in israel. Are you sure . I know it was the old thing to run them out of the country. Netanyahu wont say im against it. He said hes for a two state even if he set up problems with that. A significant part of his party let alone parties in his Coalition Support the annexation of the west bank. They oppose a twostate
solution. If he tried to bring to his only party a vote as to whether or not the country should pursue a twostate solution he would probably lose. Its a right wing coalition. Are there are members of it who are part of the twostate caucus, lets say. But the majority of his party and certainly the party to his right wants the land. Thats where the right wing politically in this country is finding alliances. Onestate caucus. Great to have you on, jeremy. Beth, the politics. Its clear steve israel head of the Democratic Campaign committee and Barbara Boxer have to jump on it, too. Because . Well, because we are israels best friends. Well continue to be and that will be the policy of the country. Democrats also testify to play defense. They know what the republicans will do. Things like matt brooks, the jewish republicans. We are all grownups and we make mistakes and have to deal with it. Jeremy benami and beth, great
to have you on. When we return, i have thoughts about the crowd always looking for war. Well be right back. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. She can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. My mom works at ge. [ banker ] sydney needed some Financial Guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. So we talked about her options. Her valuable assets were staying. And selling her car wouldnt fly. We helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today. And tomorrow. So lets see what we can do about that. Remodel. Motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. They take a banker. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Because when people talk, great things happen. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Stick with innovation. Stick with power. Stick with technology. Get the flexcare platinum from Philips Sonicare and save now. Philips sonicare or how ornate the halls are. Tall the building is, it doesnt matter if there are granite statues,
or big mahogany desks. When working with an investment firm, whats really important is whether the people behind the desks actually stand behind what they say. Introducing the schwab accountability guarantee. If youre not happy with one of our participating Investment Advisory services, well refund your program fee from the previous quarter. Its no guarantee against loss and other fees and expenses may still apply. Chuck vo standing by your word, thats what matters the most. Let me finish tonight with the war hawks who seize on every world conflict, whatever the sides, to root for american engagement. It seems there is no war that cant use military action or the threat of it. The in their alarmist world view the country must be aiming guns at someone, somewhere demanding
they follow our orders. The effects of the posture is to transform every regional difference into a loaded weapon. We set up a demand, an ultimatum. When thats not met we have no choice but to act. Load her up. Argue that husains possession of wmds is a cause for war. Accuse him of having them and then to baghdad, libya, syria, russia and what other nation. Then cock the hammer. If they dont do what we demand, start the war drums. This is the geronimo talk before the stupid ti of iraq. Since vietnam the lines has been pushed. If a country fails to act the way wed like we start war talk. We are one thumb to nose away from battle. This is the world of dick cheney, the American Enterprise institute and the killers of the keyboard, Chicken Hawks who send otherses to battle while they man the oped pages. President obama did a great job
in calling them out for what they are. Warriors without swords, hawks without wings. Patriots by the page, soldiers of the sound bite. Thats hardball. Thanks for joining us. All in with chris hayes starts now. Effective immediately, i am banning mr. Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers Organization or the nba. Mr. Sterling may not attend any nba games or practices. He may not be present at any clippers facility and he may not participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team. Good evening from new york. Nba commissioner adam silver, relaly